In 1961, in an astonishing act of institutional vandalism, London’s Euston Arch was demolished by British Rail to make way for the new, modern Euston Station.
The arch appeared fleetingly in Saint Etienne’s film How We Used To Live (directed by Paul Kelly), and its effect was momentarily overwhelming, the old building’s beauty and grandeur beyond all imaginings.
How We Used To Live set off dozens of emotional responses like this.
It was a 75-minute archival mash up of London from the 1950s to the 1980s, using footage pillaged from the BFI (and other) film libraries.
Ian McShane’s wry narration of prose poetry was mixed with post-war public service announcements.
Binding this together was an original soundtrack written by Pete Wiggs, keyboard player for indie pop band Saint Etienne, who together performed Wiggs’ gorgeous score live to a projection of the film.
This was an oddly distracting experience for those of us utterly drawn in to Kelly’s analogue odyssey. Should we watch the band, or the movie? Honestly, I forgot Saint Etienne were there much of the time.
The gig was closed out with a thumping Only Love Will Break Your Heart, rapturously received by a packed house. But it was the great city itself everyone was talking about as they left.
Three stars
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